A Change In Times
by lamegay
Summary: Jenny is a GP and Vastra has a nasty habit of getting herself hurt. Modern AU, will be multi-chapter, ongoing This is a complete rewrite of /s/10647830/1/A-Change-in-Times-ORIGINAL because it deserves better and four years later I'm going to do just that. There's actually a plot now, complete with twists and turns and developments
1. Chapter 1

Odd and impossible circumstances, she thought, seemed to have a bad habit of making themselves the norm. An example of such was lying on her sofa bleeding profusely from her right arm. Incidents like this made her wish she bought a leather one but it came with the place and the thought of having to pay the landlord for the storage of the old dusty-brown one that her patient was currently on made her bank account shudder.

Now that she was thinking about it, "Try not to bleed on anything, none of its actually mine."

Vastra hissed, it didn't seem in any way aggressive or angry, just exasperated, like a sigh. "I'm doing my best but the furniture isn't my foremost concern. Besides you're not letting me move."

The cut wasn't terribly deep, just bleeding a lot.

As she cleaned up the wound she said, "you know emergency medicine is my speciality."

In response she received another hiss, this time there was some force behind it. Jenny thought it was probably because she'd hurt her and Vastra was too stubborn to admit it. Really now she was acting like a child. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to apply some antiseptic, this will probably hurt."

"By all means, take your time," she snapped sarcastically, rather rudely she might add. She could hardly blame her. She knew she was used to far more advanced treatments that Jenny could only imagine.

"I'm going to have to use glue and butterfly stitches," she said with a sigh, knowing full well Vastra would get frustrated with them and reopen it.

For the rest of the treatment, they stayed in relative silence, there was an occasional noise of discomfort from Vastra and some muttering from Jenny, mostly to herself about how this wasn't covered at school, but other than that, nothing.

"I would have liked to use proper stitches, but with you being, well, y'know," she gestured to all of her, "I can't." When she didn't receive a response she continued talking. "How did you manage that anyway?" she asked making a vague sort of motion to her now-bandaged arm.

Both of them knew she wouldn't get an answer. "Thank you for your help-"

"Again," Jenny added, interrupting her.

"Yes, again," she conceded. "But I am leaving."

She tried to get up but felt her shoulder being pushed back down. "No," came Jenny's explanation, it was firm and had more authority than Vastra thought it should have. She didn't fight it though, quite the opposite, she _allowed herself_ to be forced back down.

"Excuse me?" Underneath the agitated tone Jenny thought she may have sounded a bit surprised, maybe offended too.

"The last time something like this happened you came back and you got infected, so no, you're not leaving until I'm satisfied you can take care of yourself."

"But-"

"-Do you have _any_ idea how difficult it was for me to get you antibiotics?"

"You got them within two hours."

"I mean ethically difficult."

If she weren't in a mood Vastra would have found that rather funny. She was beginning to have a hard time pretending that she didn't have a sense of humour with Jenny. Ethically Vastra felt they were pretty sound. The supplies, while technically stolen (there was no technicality, they were just stolen), went to helping someone (Vastra) so they should have been in the clear.

Rain beat down on the windows. In response to the noise Jenny turned a smug expression on her guest. "I'm giving you a free pass not to go out in that," she punctuated the end of her sentence by thrusting her arm towards the window. She went back to looking concerned. If anyone else looked at her like that Vastra wouldn't have believed it was sincere, but she believed that Jenny would only be honest with her. She wished she didn't, it made her 'hate all apes' attitude hard to maintain. Though the fact that it was becoming increasingly obvious to Jenny that Vastra seriously hated very little, she was just easily annoyed and had a temper.

"I'd be fine."

"Sure you would be." She was tempted to bring up the fact that they had only met because Vastra let herself get caught in the wrong weather.

"I would be." Vastra was adamant she could take care of herself just fine she thought, not entirely unaware of the irony since she had just, quite consciously, come to this human's home to be taken care of.

"Yeah, probably, but if anything happened I'd probably never know and I'd never forgive myself." Jenny could tell by her expression that she was none too pleased. "Look, I'll turn the heating up and everything, I'd just rather not be forced to deal with you if something worse was wrong." All of a sudden Jenny looked tired, she'd probably kept her up well past when she would have liked to sleep. Vastra felt a little guilty. She knew Jenny worked long hours and did a difficult job.

"I'm going to bed in a minute, you can crash there." 'Crash?' Vastra thought, unfamiliar with the term in this context. She didn't ask about it though, not at this hour. There was another period of silence. "If there's something you want just check the kitchen," Jenny said mostly just to break it. Vastra grunted in response and looked like she was trying to make herself comfortable.

Vastra rolled her eyes and stared holes into the back of the, admittedly quite comfy, sofa. She waited for her host to leave before relaxing her sour expression. Said sour expression was plastered back on when she heard her footsteps coming towards her and a blanket being dropped on top of her.

"Goodnight," she heard her say before heading off, presumably, to her bed.

* * *

A/N- Long time no see! Just an update on my life. I'm less than 2 months away from getting my degree and I'm still in love with these two

Please R&R because I crave validation and its hugely motivating for me xx


	2. Chapter 2

To be fair, five hours of sleep wasn't all that bad. Jenny could hardly complain. She would anyway of course. She should have got in a solid six, maybe even seven, if she didn't have to take care of Vastra.

At the thought of Vastra she shot up in bed. She was still in the flat. Or should have been if she'd done as she was told. She really didn't want to wake her up by accident, she didn't strike her as a morning person.

She dressed as quietly as possible. She didn't put on her shoes, instead electing to carry them to the front door so she could tread carefully. En route she peeked over the back of the sofa to check if her guest was still there. Much to her surprise she was. Vastra was sound asleep. She didn't snore or anything, though her breaths had more of a sibilance than any human she'd heard before. She looked peaceful.

She looked at her watch. She had some spare time. So she put on the kettle and fished out another blanket, placing it on one of the radiators while the kettle boiled. She'd have to leave the heating on all day since she had no idea when Vastra would wake up and with the weather continuing as it was she didn't want her to be uncomfortable, if she needed a little extra warmth when she did wake up she could take the warmed blanket and replace it with the one she was using. Jenny really did have excellent bedside manner.

The kettle boiled loudly, the button clicked even louder, rousing the resting Silurian. Jenny hadn't noticed and made herself a coffee using cheap own-brand granules. She really didn't like coffee but she needed that caffeine hit and she couldn't justify the dent in her bank account if she bought it on the way to work.

"Good morning," Vastra groaned from the sofa, now fully covering herself with the blanket in an effort to keep the looming day at bay (and the bright light directly overhead stung her eyes).

"You're awake?"

"A sorry state of affairs, I agree."

Jenny made her a cup of tea and left it on the coffee table in front of her. Vastra didn't remove her cover.

"I'm leaving in a minute, but you can stay here. The weathers even worse. If it's still this bad when I get back I'll drive you home yourself."

"Drive in London in rush hour? Jenny I'm many things but I'm not cruel. I'd never make you do that," she said, finally showing her face, temporarily forgetting her veneer of humourlessness at such an early hour.

"Do you want me to take a look at your arm before I go?"

The warmth in her host's tone immediately set her on the defensive. "I'm fine. I can leave," she said too quickly, still thrown by the fact that she really believed Jenny cared. She untangled herself from the blanket and made to stand up before seeing that the weather really did leave quite a lot to be desired. "I'll be fine. I'm leaving."

"Don't be ungrateful. I even made you a drink." Vastra looked at the coffee table. It didn't at all fit in with the rest of the (sparse) interior décor. She wondered if it came with the place or if Jenny just had poor taste. Both were equally likely. She eyed the drink before taking it in her hands, cursing the comforting warmth. "How many times have you come to me for help?"

"Is that rhetorical?"

"Of course it is- you've kept count haven't you."

She didn't answer.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and crossed her free arm. "You're ridiculous, you know that, right?" Instead of answering Vastra got up again.

"I haven't even changed your dressing." A sigh, it was much too early for this and she didn't really have the time. She shouldn't have offered. "Come here, I've got to leave soon so let's do this quickly."

Silently she sat back down and allowed Jenny to treat her again.

"You heal really quickly, are all of your lot like this?"

"Everyone in my clutch healed relatively quickly, it was desirable."

"Hmm." She was interested, she wouldn't have asked otherwise, but she didn't have anything to add and since Vastra wasn't great at understanding facial expressions she felt the need to give an audible response.

"Are you going to let me leave or do I have to stay until you return?"

She tutted as she finished redressing her arm. "Don't act like I'm keeping you here by force, we both know you could have left at any time last night, you stayed because I was right and it was in your best interests."

"That wasn't an answer."

"If you want to leave then leave, you're welcome to stay if you think you'll be better off here than at whatever dump you're living in at the moment."

"I resent that."

"Resent away."

"Why are you so intent on helping me?" Her curiosity was borne of sincere lack of understanding just _why_ she was so kind to her. No other human she'd met would do this. Barring Jack of course, but he didn't count.

"Why do you always come to me for it if you don't want help?"

"I don't want your help I just happen to need it."

"You're acting like a brat and I'm leaving."

Jenny wanted to slam the door, or at least close it with some force, but it was early and she was mindful of her neighbours. She would rather not have a complaint come through her door again, the last one being about having guests at odd hours, not that it was any of their business.

Her days were usually long and tiresome, getting to the surgery at least half an hour before it opened (a task made particularly painful when kept up late by the arrival of a certain lizard in need of medical attention) wasn't her ideal way to start the day. Then having to make conversation with the other staff, none of whom she particularly disliked or anything she just hardly knew them and found their talks awkward and forced. Not to mention the number of people she had to see, London was a big and well-populated place after all. Most of her patients were people with chronic illnesses, diabetes, arthritis, and the like so she saw them regularly and most of them were very nice and appreciated her help be it writing up a prescription or giving them a referral but she had to admit that it got monotonous. Perhaps that was why she put up with Vastra. A big green break from the norm, her manners and gratitude could be improved though.

Honestly, she didn't expect said green break from the norm to still be in her apartment by the time she returned but she was fairly certain that she would come back in a week or two with anything from a twisted ankle to a broken rib, the latter of which Vastra coped with far better than the former. She had to know she couldn't keep relying on Jenny forever, she had a life and what if she couldn't help? It was a real difficulty to get her hands on the supplies she kept tucked away under her bed and she thanked the stars she had a friend at the hospital willing to smuggle out a few things on the understanding that she wasn't getting herself involved in anything questionable in a court of law.

It wasn't until late at night, later than usual too, that she returned home take-out in hand. Take-out she nearly dropped when she saw Vastra in the kitchen taking great interest in her host's foodstuffs.

"Good evening," she said flatly whilst reading the back of a tin of beans. There was a lot of sugar in such a small can.

"You're still here."

"I'm aware of that." She put the tin down on the countertop along with most of the rest of the contents of Jenny's kitchen cupboards. She could at least put them back where they belong she thought. "Why don't apes simply get their food fresh? It seems like more work than it's worth to prepare all of this. We preserved our food too," she began, referring to silurians, "but only seasonal foods, you seem to do it on a far larger scale."

"Right," she wasn't paying full attention and decided it would be better to just let her talk. "Before you go you can put all that back."

"Why do you have that? You have plenty here why waste your money?" Vastra asked, not bothering to gesture to the bag in her hand.

She put the bag on what little space there was left on the countertop and dug through her drawers for some cutlery, apparently her guest had taken it upon herself to go through her (formerly) neat and well-arranged drawers too. "I didn't feel up to cooking," she answered "Just clean up and put everything back where you found it while I eat and I'll sort you out something after," she was too tired to sound anything but exasperated, funnily enough she didn't feel quite so mentally exhausted before she came in.

After a short while Vastra came into the living room and took the seat closest to the radiator which had been on all day, Jenny wasn't going to like the bill. "Thank you for offering but I don't require you to prepare me anything to eat, I appreciate the offer however."

 _Appreciation?_ She thought, and she didn't even have to coax the gratitude out of her. "Why are you still here? I know I said you could stay but I didn't actually expect you to- I mean I would have got you something as well," she gestured to her almost-empty plate.

"I just told you I don't need anything to eat," she said almost harshly, apes had a habit of not listening. _And just like that, all semblance of a good house guest and patient… gone._ "I still need you to check my arm, as you said, I'd rather not be forced to return due to complications."

"You'll be forced to come back anyway, you seem like get yourself in trouble a lot," she half-joked before taking her plate to be washed up, leaving Vastra pouting until she returned.

"What even is it you do to get yourself hurt like you do?" She removed the bandage and was careful to avoid touching her scales, she was used to them by now but had learnt that the less contact she had the less likely it was that'd she'd accidentally pull a scale and cause further discomfort.

"A few things," she answered honestly, bracing herself for any pain that might come as Jenny began removing her bandage.

"Vague," she said absently.

"Truth."

"Still vague."

"I could be in serious trouble for just letting you know about my existence, for both our safeties I can't go into any more detail." Jenny pictured a Men In Black-esque setup, or something equally covert.

"And how much trouble would you be in for regularly coming to the same human for medical attention without proof you can trust her?"

"You'd probably find yourself in more trouble, perhaps danger too, than I would."

"So you've willingly put me in harm's way?" her tone was somewhat jovial and Vastra wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

She donned a sheepish expression. "When you put it like that it sounds worse."

"It is pretty bad."

"You could have turned me away at any time."

"You're big green and intimidating, I'm not sure turning you away would be the wisest decision." Her tone turned more serious, "Plus I'm a doctor, I can't just refuse to help someone."

Jenny finished redressing the injury that she was satisfied was healing well she stood and went to fetch the other woman's large hooded coat. When she returned she found Vastra messing with the gauze around her arm which earned her some admonishment. She passed her the coat and waited for her to finish zipping it up before leading her to the door.

"Thank you, for my arm and making me stay," she said sincerely.

"Any time, if there's something wrong you know where I am. And don't stay out too long it's cold out and I'd hate for me looking after you to go to waste."

Vastra laughed. "I'll be fine."

"I'll see you next time you break something."

* * *

I'm actually having a really fun time with this

Please please r&r home slices


	3. Chapter 3

Jenny didn't see Vastra for some time since she had stayed on her sofa. A part of her was worried though she knew it was backwards thinking, Vastra came when something was wrong with her. She was probably fine. Still, with Vastra's track record, she felt antsy. Maybe she had finally taken her advice and was more careful- but she didn't think that was very likely.

Aside from Vastra Jenny's life, all in all, was very normal and always returned to being normal when Vastra left only to be briefly interrupted again when she came back. At first, both of them were less than amicable. Vastra would twitch and sniff and taste the air, Jenny had thought it was a nervous tic at first (not that Vastra would be nervous around an 'ape') but soon learned that it was normal for her (though this was after she had snapped at her about it, from that point she made an effort not to and found stopping altogether to be very difficult and Jenny felt more than a little guilty). Vastra had made (hollow) threats to eat her more times than she could remember, and many times Jenny had become so frustrated she had to kick the silurian out as soon as she had done the bare minimum of treatment. Other times Vastra would sit in complete silence, not even flinching. But, as would become more normal, they spoke to each other, Vastra found it enlightening and Jenny became a source of information as well as her doctor.

Vastra resented the fact that she so regularly turned to an ape for help she shouldn't have needed but eventually resigned herself to it. She doubted she would have suffered terribly had she not gone to Jenny most of the time, Torchwood would likely come to her aid if worst came to worst and in a desperate case she could seek out help from UNIT but she knew herself well enough to know that she would refuse to go crawling to them out of pride. Honestly, she didn't know if the Doctor would ever save her again. The only time she was really concerned for her wellbeing since knowing Jenny was when she found herself slumped against her door bleeding profusely from a wound above her eye that had obscured her vision. Her head ached and stung and she had a mixture of her own and someone else's blood on her hands. She wasn't sure what happened but she was fairly certain she had won. Jenny had told her, much to her own embarrassment, that she had overreacted. After a while, there wasn't even a scar. Jenny had handled the situation well if she remembered correctly, she set her down in a seat and cleaned her up, she even made her a drink. The ordeal shook her more than she would have liked, she had suffered far more serious injuries in the past and would likely suffer more, what really struck her was the fact that she had been entirely unprepared for the blow. An ape had managed to maim her. Granted, it was a big ape. A few millennia, she loathed to admit, had brought the species up closer to par. She'd have to learn not to underestimate them.

Vastra would never say it, nor would Jenny for that matter, but she was grateful to have met her. Granted their meeting wasn't a pleasant one what with Vastra falling into the bin bags outside Jenny's flat on the brink of hypothermia. Not her highest point. She still didn't understand Jenny's motivation for saving her life, she wouldn't and couldn't deny that without Jenny she would have died. She had asked her months later and she simply said that it was 'the right thing to do'. She couldn't help but allow a small smile at the memory. Jenny was good and did things just because it was right to do so. The Doctor wanted her to be more like that. Of course, the poor girl must have been terrified, it wasn't often you saw a large green woman who could quite easily kill you if not for the fact that she was very much freezing to death, but still she managed to get her into her apartment (the trip wasn't pleasant, the lucid part of Vastra was worried about being seen and the lift stank of urine and take-out meals) and warm her up.

For a long time after Vastra was ashamed of herself but eventually, whilst limping her way to the flat she had become very familiar with, she realised that she didn't have the luxury of her sisters fighting alongside her nor did she have a silurian physician to mend her, she accepted that seeking aid from a human, from this one human, was a necessary evil.

Like it or not she wasn't living in the world she knew, she was living in one full of apes and she had to adapt if she wanted to continue living and, according to the Doctor, she did. So, she did her best to put aside her hang-ups with humanity, those who knew of her noticed that she was at least trying not to be as rude as she had been, which just meant she didn't say every ill thought that came to mind. Jack thought she was funny at least. Torchwood saw the change too though she did have a better first impression from them than she did from most. Jenny didn't see a change, however, either because she was too focused on what was wrong with Vastra or because Vastra knew that it was not wise to bite the hand that feeds you and tried not to get on her nerves so badly that she wouldn't be able to go back. She did get on her nerves though.

* * *

A/N-

Cheeky bit of filler for ya- i say filler but its more like development.

Next chapter is where everything begins in earnest, get ready gang

I've written some stuff that I think is funny so hopefully you guys like it as well

Thanks for reading and leave a review if you liked it (or didn't like it, lets me know what I need to change!)

Oh an thank you to everyone who's followed this and stuff


	4. Chapter 4

It was 3am and it was the first time in a while that Jenny had managed to get to sleep at a decent time, a rare event that had been ruined by her phone ringing with a call from an unknown number. "Hello?"

"Jenny!"

Upon recognising her voice she fell back onto her pillow, keeping her phone to her ear. Of course Vastra would call her at a time like this.

Vastra heard the impact through the microphone. "It's me, Vastra."

"Gathered that."

"Are you busy?"

"I was sleeping."

"But you're awake now?"

"Of course I'm awake now."

"Good. Can you pick me up?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm stuck in a phone box."

"You're stuck?"

"Well, not stuck exactly. Look out your window." She paused, giving her time to look. "Are you looking?"

"No, I'm getting ready to get you."

"It's raining."

"And you're hiding in a phone box."

"Exactly. So you're coming?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way. Where are you?"

"About two miles away from your flat. There's an… I think it says 'Asda'."

"The twenty-four hour one?"

"Yes! That one."

"I'll be there soon. Try not to get seen." She hung up and rolled her eyes. Of course. Of course this would happen. Frankly, she was surprised it hadn't happened sooner.

She had enough thought to grab Vastra a blanket to cover herself with in the car instead of the wet coat she'd probably be in and to hide her since she wasn't the most inconspicuous being around. Not enough thought to wear shoes instead of slippers. Her feet were soaked through before she even made it to her car.

It didn't take long to get to her. She drove just a bit over the speed limit. Just a bit.

She spotted the phone box and pulled up next to it. She got out and knocked on the glass. "I'm gonna kill you."

"Ah! Good evening. That was quick."

"I was worried. Now get in the car." She did as she was told, as Jenny had learned she tended to do when she used her doctor voice. "No, get in the back."

"What? No!"

"You can't be seen. Get in the back."

"I'm not getting in the back I'm not a child."

"You'd rather risk been seen than sit in the back?"

In truth no, she didn't value the front seat more than her anonymity, but she did value her pride. She'd said it now and couldn't go back on it… "Yes."

Jenny gawped at her momentarily. She cleared her head, actually having to take physical action and shake it to do so. "Get in the car. Throw your coat in the back there's a blanket stuffed in the dashboard."

Vastra opened the front door and chucked her coat in the back through the seats, splashing some water. Vastra noticed that Jenny had put the heating on. It wouldn't be that warm if she'd only just turn it on. She must have turned the heating on the whole way. Could it have been for her? It wasn't very cold out and Vastra knew from her cupboards that she was the economical sort- she probably wouldn't have had it on for such a short journey for herself. She didn't take the blanket from the nook it had been stuffed in.

"You okay?" she asked when she got in the front with her. "Put your belt on." Vastra was pretending to be fine, but Jenny could tell she wasn't. Her movements weren't as sharp. It was like someone sanded down her edges, but really badly. Like a poorly made table, or a dulled knife. Vastra wouldn't have liked either of those comparisons.

"Cold, but fine. I am sorry to do this to you but I can't be certain I can make it anywhere in this weather. Did I wake you."

"Yes."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. I'd rather you call me than let yourself drown in a phone box."

"It smelled terrible." There was an unspoken 'thank you' in there.

"Why aren't you using the blanket?"

"Well-" how did she put it politely? "- you said that I'm more likely to be seen in the front, yes?"

"Yes?"

"If I'm discovered I don't want it to be in a blanket."

"I…" she didn't know what to say. "You're…" She huffed and put her hands on the wheel. "You're lucky I'm daft enough to put up with you."

"You look tired. I am sorry to disturb you like this."

"I'm just glad you're okay. You had me going there for a minute."

Vastra stared, unable to process the fact that she had made Jenny worry about her. More to the point, that Jenny worried about her at all.

"Jenny, are we friends?"

"I should bloody hope so since its almost half three and I'm driving you back to mine in wet slippers. I drove in slippers for you Vastra."

"I wasn't sure."

"I thought we were."

"Good."

"How did you get my number?"

"Illegitimate means."

"You could have just asked."

"Torchwood gave me it."

"Torchwood as in Torchwood."

"Yes, I believe that's the one. You don't know about Torchwood, better for you to feign ignorance. They know about you," she added as an afterthought.

"You asked Torchwood to give you my number? I shouldn't be surprised you're with them, they're the worst kept secret in the country."

"I'm not with them, I just know them."

"And now they know all about me because of you?"

"It's not what you think."

"Oh?"

"I listed you as my emergency contact in case something bad happens and they're the ones who take custody of me. I didn't have your number myself so they found it." She laughed at the memory, "Jack told me it was strange that I didn't know my own emergency contact's number."

"He's not wrong."

They pulled up outside Jenny's flat. Thankfully it was late enough that there was virtually no traffic and nobody had taken her spot.

Jenny got out and went to the other side of the car to open the passenger door for her. "Come on." She offered her hand to help her up.

She took it and Jenny immediately frowned. Not at her scales or how they felt, at how cold her hands were. They weren't even her normal level of cold, there was a chill to them. "Let's get you inside, hm?"

As soon as she stepped outside condensation settled on Vastra's scaled face. Jenny noticed and immediately handed her a cloth when they got inside.

Neither of them had ever been so thankful for central heating.

Vastra sat on the sofa like she normally did when she was there. Something large was draped around her and Jenny sat next to her with her knees drawn up to her chest.

"This won't help I don't make my own heat," she said eventually. If nothing else it was a clear sign that she probably wasn't at too much of a risk. Despite her words she pulled what was apparently Jenny's duvet tighter around her.

"I know that. Just keep it, for my peace of mind."

Vastra gave her a look. "Are you alright?" Her speech was slightly sluggish, like when your tongue is numb and it's harder to form coherent sounds.

She could almost have laughed. "You're asking me that?"

"I am, yes."

"Better now that you're inside."

"And yet you so frequently act like you don't enjoy my company," she stumbled a bit on the word 'frequently'.

"Please don't try to be funny right now.

"Sorry. I hope I haven't inconvenienced you terribly."

She got up and was gone for several minutes only to return with tea for both of them. Vastra couldn't quite keep a steady hold of her mug (nor could Jenny for that matter) but the gesture was greatly appreciated and it helped loosen her cold-stiffened hands.

"What would you have done if I hadn't picked up?"

"Drowned in a phone box probably."

"You could have died," Jenny said absently, as if she were unable to fully grasp what she was saying.

"I didn't though."

"The fact remains."

"I owe you my life twice now."

"I said don't try to be funny."

"I'm not."

After a while, Vastra had warmed up enough to move far more easily than she could an hour prior. Jenny felt part of her duvet on her shoulders. "What are you doing?"

"You looked tired."

"Something to do with being woken up at three in the morning."

"Strange that." Her speech, Jenny noticed, was getting better.

"You could have died," she said again.

"I didn't."

"Good."

"Jenny?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I go to sleep?" Jenny laughed and took the hint to get up.

"Yeah," she stood up and yawned, making her bones click. "Goodnight. Keep warm, okay?"

"Goodnight, Jenny. And thank you."

The following morning Jenny was glad it was a Saturday, even if she had work, however, she knew that she likely would have called in sick, in part because of her lack of sleep but mostly because she was concerned for the sake of the lizard that she had given up her bed for.

"You look tired," Vastra said, already awake and sitting up.

Jenny yelped at the unexpected noise. "Don't sneak up on me."

"I'm hardly sneaking."

"How are you feeling?"

"Not as bad as I could be." An honest answer.

"Specifics please."

"I ache and my joints are stiff. I'll be fine in a few hours though." A more honest answer. "I checked the weather forecast- truly ape society had some sense to broadcast that, we never did, perhaps you have more to offer than I first thought- I may have to request to stay a second night."

"You'll be damn lucky if I let you leave, I was bloody worried."

"I can take care of myself," her voice resembled reassurance.

"Apparently not."

Vastra hissed. "I'm not a child."

"And I'm not your carer, yet here we are."

"You're in a bad mood because you haven't slept properly, perhaps you should," she forced a calm tone, she wasn't really angry or annoyed but she was conscious of her weakness with ape inflections and of Jenny's temper being significantly shortened.

"I'm fine."

"Would you rather us argue and have one of us storm out? You can have your duvet back too."

"How charitable."

"I thought so."

Jenny wanted to change the subject. "Vastra,"

"Yes?"

"Why were you so close last night? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you were, else it all could have gone a lot worse, is something else the matter?" she said with all the professional concern your local GP should have. But Jenny was not Vastra's local GP.

"No nothing like that." She paused for a brief moment to collect her thoughts. "I was out, it started to rain, then the temperature started to get low, I wasn't sure if I could make it home and I was closer to here anyway it was the wiser choice. When I got to the phone box you found me in I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it here on my own, I had a better chance of survival if you brought me here than if I tried to make it on my own."

"What would you have done if I hadn't picked up my phone?"

"Tried again until I died an unfitting and humiliating death."

"You must have other people. Torchwood?"

"This wouldn't be covered by my agreement with Scotland Yard and Torchwood is in Wales. I think if you didn't come then perhaps the Doctor would have come for me but I would rather not take that risk."

Jenny felt it best that they not talk about her essentially being Vastra's next-of-kin just yet. They both knew how they were and it would likely end in an argument which would hardly be beneficial since Vastra had best stay. "You've mentioned him before."

"You might like him."

"Might?"

"His personality isn't what you would call 'consistent'." It was probably a good idea not to ask what she had meant by 'consistent' as Vastra looked exhausted just thinking about it.

"Are there any other doctors in your life or is it just the two of us?"

"Oh none that you need know about, you'll just get jealous," she teased.

"Then I won't tell you about all the other lizard people I treat."

"Jenny," she said, changing the tone of the conversation to a more serious one quicker than what might be considered polite. "Do you have anything to eat?"

The girl looked embarrassed. "Oh, God, yes- sorry I forgot to offer you something- God you must be starving." Truly she was a terrible host. "I'll run down to the butchers. Will you be okay here by yourself?"

"I can't imagine I wouldn't be."

"You got yourself stuck in a phone box last night, so I can."

"I wasn't stuck."

"Just stay put, don't open the curtains and don't answer the door for anyone."

"I'm not a child."

"Well, I worry."

"Get some rest when you come back."

"I'm not a child," she echoed before heading to her room to get changed.

* * *

A/N-

this has some big ole revisions from the original from 4 years ago but also very similar. i think the jokes land better now though

please leave a review if you enjoy! (or dont enjoy)

theres not many of you reading this but im having fun, but honestly it really would help me if you let me know xx


	5. Chapter 5

Jenny's house phone rang approximately fifteen minutes after she left, and it rang for a while before Vastra decided to answer, if only to stop it ringing.

"Hello?" she said sounding unsure, she wasn't sure if she should have answered it, but it was getting on her nerves. Plus, she forgot that picking it up meant she had to respond.

"Vastra! Hey! I'm glad you answered. Wasn't sure if you lot had phones. You probably had something like it I guess. Anyway! Wasn't sure if you'd answer. You really shouldn't have, what if this wasn't me?"

She wasn't going to answer that. "Was there a point to this?"

"Relax, I thought I should let you know I'm going to be out for a while, I forgot the local is closed."

Jenny's good nature was forcing her to go out of her way for Vastra. She was sort of flattered. "Don't do too much for my sake."

"Shut up," she joked. "I need to buy something anyway. Okay, I'm getting on the bus, bye." The call ended and Vastra put the handset back down, and resigned herself to being left alone for a while. She turned on Jenny's TV, she would never admit it, but she found she had a soft spot for human entertainment. Silurians had similar things, but not nearly on the same scale. It awed her that apes had an entire industry devoted to it, and so much money came from it. She discovered that the medium was actually rather enjoyable.

Soon enough though, she became bored and decided to look around. She had a feel for the place already - from visiting so many times before, but she had never been there alone. She thought she caught sight of some books on reptiles in Jenny's bedroom, but she couldn't be certain since, as Jenny was intent on reminding her, she had nearly died.

She stood outside Jenny's bedroom with the door closed. She was worried going in would be an invasion of privacy, it was true that she had done far worse things, but not to anyone she knew. Plus, Jenny was an important asset - more than that, she was just plain important.

Maybe she could just ask her when she came back, that way she wouldn't have done anything wrong, and Jenny couldn't get upset with her. It was genius.

But still.

She was curious. She didn't really know much about the wildlife in this time and it interested her. It also upset her, but that was beside the point, things had changed whilst she was asleep and it was only sensible to know about the world. She also wanted to know why Jenny had been reading up on reptiles. Logical deduction lead her to believe it had something to do with her. She _was_ a reptile after all. She herself had certainly done her own research on the now dominant species on the planet.

Vastra must have been lost in thought for quite a while, as she remained rooted to the spot until she heard Jenny unlock the door. She hadn't realised just how much her legs hurt until she snapped out of her state, she regretted standing for so long.

"Sorry I took so long, queuing is absolute Hell in London, everywhere is always crowded, I guess you wouldn't know because you don't shop, but-" she stopped talking and frowned when Vastra appeared from the hallway. "Were you in my room?"

"No, I was outside it," she saw no reason to lie, she hadn't done anything wrong after all.

Jenny still frowned and put her bags on the kitchen countertop. "Why?" she asked as she took out what she had bought. Meat mostly.

She took one of the packets of uncooked beef and opened it, she was hungry enough to not make a comment about cows not being part of her typical diet. If she weren't so used to the Silurian's... 'eccentricities', Jenny would have been disturbed by the fact that she ate it raw. "You were reading about reptiles."

Jenny fumbled and turned a light shade of pink. Was she embarrassed? "Well, when you started coming to me whenever something was wrong... you aren't human you know? I'm not exactly trained to deal with lizards, I'm not a vet."

"Are you implying I'm an animal?" she asked with faux-offense.

"No, it's just that... I'm probably the first human who's had to play doctor to one of you."

"Playing doctor? I thought I was under trained care."

"You know what I mean. I'm not even fully qualified to treat a human, let alone one of you."

"Don't sell yourself short my dear, you haven't been 'playing doctor' at all. I'm still in one piece."

Jenny raised a brow. "'My dear'? What are you, eighty?"

"Close."

"What?" She honestly wasn't sure if she was joking, she'd said it so deadpan.

"I'd be around eighty years old physically, yes."

'Only'- how long did they live for? On second thought, she didn't want to know. "God."

"What?"

"You're really that old?"

Vastra couldn't understand why she was questioning her. "Why? Do I look younger? I've been told I look younger."

"You're a lizard, I can't really tell."

"Then why are you surprised?"

"It's just a bit of a shock."

"I'm not old, just so you know."

"You're eighty!"

"At most."

"You don't keep track?"

"We don't celebrate our hatching like you celebrate your births."

"That's sad."

"That's anthropocentric."

"You really don't keep count?"

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"Strange."

Jenny could only roll her eyes. "I got you something by the way, consider it a hatching-day gift."

"It's probably not the day I hatched."

"Do you not know?" she asked and took out a box from one of the bags and pushed it towards her.

"I don't know the date."

"Let's say it's today then. Happy hatching day. It's an electric blanket, I thought you might need it, since it's getting colder."

Vastra didn't say anything for a while, Jenny would have been worried she'd done something wrong and upset her, if not for the softness in her eyes.

"I figured that since I was already at the shop and you'll probably stay over more now since we've crossed that bridge-" She stopped talking when Vastra hugged her. It was awkward and Vastra was altogether too rigid, like she didn't quite know what to do, but it wasn't altogether unwelcome or unpleasant. Jenny hugged her back and patted between her shoulders. She felt short.

"This is the correct procedure, isn't it? This is what apes do?" Her joints hurt.

"Kind of."

"When do I let go of you?"

"A good fifteen seconds ago."

"Right." She released her and found that she was smiling quite involuntarily despite the pain she was feeling thanks to the movement. "Thank you."

"Has nobody ever gotten you a present?"

"Of course they have, but not for no reason."

"I was being nice, besides, it's your hatchday."

"Are you this nice to all of your patients?"

"No, just my friends. We're friend's right?"

"Yes. Thank you," she said again.

"I can't believe I let you hug me after watching you eat raw meat."

She shrugged and winced at the pain the movement caused her. "You've popped my joints back in place after I've eaten a person."

"I have?"

"You don't sound surprised."

She ran a hand through her hair and rubbed her tired eyes. "I know." Her life, she thought, had taken quite the odd turn, for her to be almost completely unfazed by the fact that her friend ate people, then again said friend was a large humanoid lizard, who could probably tear her in two if she wanted.

"You take my diet rather well."

"It comes with the territory. You could probably find healthier alternatives though, I've read studies on the quality of human meat for consumption and it's not great. Probably tastes gross too."

"Sixty-five-million years of evolution has had an effect," she said casually, opening another packet. Jenny was a curious thing, most of her kind probably wouldn't react to her in the same way at all.

Jenny didn't have a response to that.

"Maybe you should get some rest, you look tired," she didn't mean to cause offence, so Jenny took none. She probably _did_ look pretty beat.

"I'm fine, it's too early anyway, my poor circadian rhythms can't take it. And you're here."

"I can leave."

"No I just meant it'd be rude."

"Is this an ape custom?"

"Human," she corrected. "Manners? Kind of. It'd be rude to just go to bed and leave a guest."

She scoffed. "'Manners'."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Humans..." she stressed the word, earning her a narrowing of the eyes from Jenny, "...aren't typically the politest of creatures."

"You threatened to eat me the first time we met."

"Irrelevant."

* * *

Finally! An update! Sorry gang, just got a sick job and it's taken up all my time lol, plus im now freelancing and attempting to graduate from uni SO

Hopefully updates will get better but i'm still a fundamentally flawed person

Please leave a review they really do mean the world


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